Is there a way with the mod launcher i could play this mod pack with SMX bigger backpack?

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I downloaded the 'Big Bag' version of SMX and checked what files it modified. Both it and ComSenMod modify some of the same user interface files, but we change different lines within those files. So if you have a file merging utility, I predict you should be able to mash the two together without conflicts.

I don't know what the mod launcher does when you install multiple mods. It may do a file merge, or take some other approach. I would ask directly in the mod launcher thread. Hope this helps!

Clothing and Temperature. I disagree with clothing not having a minus effect on temperature. Having been in several hot locations clothing is essential in protecting from temperature. Taking off all your cloth to keep from going over temperature is as unrealistic as going into hypothermia at 50 degrees because you had all the minus clothing on.

Since the game doesn't have proper hot weather gear we have to accept that shorts, tee-shirt and cowboy hat fill that role. Perhaps not at the the vanilla listed values but something.

Thanks for your feedback.

My take on it is that wearing clothes has multiple potential effects. It both insulates and shades the body, and these effects work in opposite directions. Unfortunately, modders have just one "insulation" value to adjust. No matter what the value is, it's not going to simulate both effects. It's either going to make you warmer when it shouldn't, or cooler when it shouldn't.

Given that one variable can only simulate one side of this temperature equation, I felt warming was the lesser of two evils.

Insulation is 'active' whenever you're wearing clothes, even in hot weather, while shading is only active when you're in the sun. Since the game applies any heating or cooling effect all the time, it makes more sense to simulate the insulating effect over the shading effect.

Players wear clothing for other reasons than controlling temperature: to style their character a certain way, to show their progression beyond naked Day 1 status, or to simply look 'normal'. For those secondary reasons to be viable, the primary function of controlling temperature has to work for a wide range of clothing options.

I think making all clothing warming allows more possibilities than designating a few items as cooling. In vanilla, you don't wear a poncho and cowboy hat because you like the way it looks; you only wear it to stay cool. In ComSenMod, if you really like the poncho-and-cowboy-hat look, you can make that outfit work temperature-wise about as well as many other outfits.

Simplicity. I've seen a lot of feedback that vanilla weather survival is tedious, requiring too much babysitting, to the point that people either turn it off or abandon common sense and ignore everything that's not a poncho or a duster. Clothing in ComSenMod is the simplest I can make it without removing weather survival entirely. If you're cold, wear more. If you're hot, wear less. You don't have to think about the dual purpose or construct weird combinations.

Just looking at things from that common sense perspective, there are more places where dual-purpose clothes would warm you (snow, maple forest, pine forest, plains) than cool you (desert, burnt forest).

However, I suppose I could just shift everything: make all biomes 10 degrees warmer and make all clothes 10 degrees cooler, even if they go into the negative. Better yet, I could make light colored clothing cooler than dark colored clothing. In fact, I think I'll add that to my list of potential ideas for the next update.

I've taken the first step towards an A17 version of ComSenMod by comparing every change ComSenMod makes to the new files. I'd estimate about 80% of them still apply. Due to a graphical issue that's discouraged me from playing, and the ephemeral nature of experimental builds, it's been too early to draw many conclusions about what new common sense things should be added for an A17 version of ComSenMod.

The change to loot drops is the biggest unknown. Whereas in Alpha 16 nearly every zombie type dropped loot designed to make sense for their character, in A17E there are only two types of backpacks zombies drop: basically 'regular loot' and 'good loot'. I'm still deciding how to account for this, but I'm thinking of splitting it out into a separate kind of backpack for each zombie that used to have its own loot list in Alpha 16. This would allow zombies to have the same loot drop rate as in vanilla.

Big picture, my next step is to decide if ComSenMod's future is as an xpath "modlet" or a traditional overhaul of the affected files. My current understanding is that a modlet is more work up front, but it should be more forwards compatible with future changes. I'm open to advice by those of you that have had a chance to try both ways by now, keeping in mind that ComSenMod is limited to xml edits, but there are several hundred of them.

I've taken the first step towards an A17 version of ComSenMod by comparing every change ComSenMod makes to the new files. I'd estimate about 80% of them still apply. Due to a graphical issue that's discouraged me from playing, and the ephemeral nature of experimental builds, it's been too early to draw many conclusions about what new common sense things should be added for an A17 version of ComSenMod.

The change to loot drops is the biggest unknown. Whereas in Alpha 16 nearly every zombie type dropped loot designed to make sense for their character, in A17E there are only two types of backpacks zombies drop: basically 'regular loot' and 'good loot'. I'm still deciding how to account for this, but I'm thinking of splitting it out into a separate kind of backpack for each zombie that used to have its own loot list in Alpha 16. This would allow zombies to have the same loot drop rate as in vanilla.

Big picture, my next step is to decide if ComSenMod's future is as an xpath "modlet" or a traditional overhaul of the affected files. My current understanding is that a modlet is more work up front, but it should be more forwards compatible with future changes. I'm open to advice by those of you that have had a chance to try both ways by now, keeping in mind that ComSenMod is limited to xml edits, but there are several hundred of them.

It is no secret that I am a big fan of the xpath and modlet system.

I would advise you to develop the mod as different modlets and divide them how you find natural for your mod and prefix them accordingly, an example CSrecipes, CSitems, CSblocks and so forth. You can even dig deeper if you have a lot of them like CSrecipesFoods, CSrecipesDrinks and by dividing like that you get better control of what is where.

The advantage as I see it is that it will be easier to make changes between builds as you have no complete code base to take into consideration when updating.

And also, should you wish to make it a complete mod instead you can just do exportcurrentconfigs from the console and you get the completed xmls exported.

ComSenMod 4.0 now available!

I'm pleased to announce ComSenMod 4 is now ready for download!

This is a complete rewrite of the mod, using the new xpath syntax. In addition to carrying over all the changes from previous versions that still make sense in Alpha 17, ComSenMod 4 adds new adjustments and, for the first time, new artwork in the form of item icons! I have plenty more ideas for future development, but for now, you can (finally) have the best of both worlds: Alpha 17 and ComSenMod working together in harmony.

This is a complete rewrite of the mod, using the new xpath syntax. In addition to carrying over all the changes from previous versions that still make sense in Alpha 17, ComSenMod 4 adds new adjustments and, for the first time, new artwork in the form of item icons! I have plenty more ideas for future development, but for now, you can (finally) have the best of both worlds: Alpha 17 and ComSenMod working together in harmony.

Loved the A16 version and look forward to giving this a run out soon, glad to see this mod transitioned to A17.

Loved the A16 version and look forward to giving this a run out soon, glad to see this mod transitioned to A17.

Thanks, Ragsy! I got your message about the mod not showing in the A17 section of sphereii's mod launcher. I've contacted him and hope to get that resolved as soon as possible. In the meantime, manual installation should work.

Okay, ComSenMod 4 is now fully, cleanly working with the Mod Launcher. I had to re-organize some files. While I was at it, I got rid of some unnecessary OS-specific meta-data, and updated the manual installation instructions.

Sorry for the messy rollout for those that use the launcher, but both sphereii and I are now able to download and install ComSenMod without issue. Enjoy!

Great mod and am having a blast. Only issue so far is it is Day 9 and haven't found a single battery in wrenching cars. Plenty of engines, wheels, headlights, acid, gas and all the usual (oil, mechanical parts, iron.. etc). Unlucky or is there an alternative in this mod I am unaware of?

@Cernwn: Thanks! I haven't tried ComSenMod with JSS, but if these two mods conflict, my first guess would be it has to do with loot. ComSenMod makes so many loot changes, it's still technically a modlet but it overwrites the entire loot.xml file. JSS may be looking for something in the file that's been reconfigured.

@Ghostlynx: Great to hear you're having a blast! In ComSenMod, you get batteries when harvesting undamaged cars. In vanilla, they're found in damaged cars. I made this change because it's easy to get a battery out of a car without having to damage it. If you see a car that's been stripped for parts, you can be sure the battery was one of the first things to go.

I just double checked the files and verified ComSenMod is still set this way. If you're having trouble finding enough batteries, there's also a chance to find them by looting the car (representing that some people might carry a spare battery in the trunk or cabin). Like other car parts, you can also find them as loot in various other places:

I downloaded your newest comsenmod, I was going to try it on my 17.2 server but it got updated. So I set it up on 17.3 and I can't seem to get pass the starting game screen, I here background noises and the time on the server was going but I never login to see world. Also my mouse stops working after 2 mins. I can run it on my local system with no issue but not the hosted server. Back to default game then.